Weissport weighs 10 applications for police positions

Residents tell council drug use has risen in absence of officers.

September 27, 2006|By Sarah Fulton Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

Weissport Borough Council has started to comb through 10 applications from people interested in working as a part-time police officer or training officer in the borough, which residents say is plagued by drug users and dealers.

Council reviewed the applications in an executive session Monday.

Councilwoman Shannon McAward said it's not yet clear which applicants are interested in working as a part-time officer and which would like to be training officer to Steve Mansueto, a recent police academy graduate not allowed to patrol the borough by himself.

The borough has no local police coverage. State police are responsible for responding to emergencies.

Mansueto, a former borough councilman, was hired in August to work a minimum of 28 hours a month at $9 an hour but can't start patrolling until a training officer is hired to accompany him. The borough helped pay for Mansueto's education at Hazleton Police Academy.

Council's vote to hire Mansueto came after it rescinded an offer to Richard Ruck, a Bangor police officer, to become the borough police chief in June. Ruck withdrew because of disagreements over scheduling and pay.

The borough went six months without police coverage before offering the job to Ruck. McAward said the process will move faster this time.

"It did take longer than it should've last time," McAward said. "We're learning from some of our mistakes."

McAward said Mayor Tina Hagenbuch will schedule interviews with the applicants. The borough Police Committee will recommend a few qualified candidates to council, and candidates will go through criminal background checks, physical and psychological exams before a decision is made on hiring.

Council hopes to hire in mid-November at the earliest.

About 10 residents attended Monday's session and said they are eager for police coverage to return to the borough. Residents have said they have seen needles and crack pipes in the borough park and on streets and that drug deals occur out in the open in the daytime.

In other matters, the mayor has been ticketing cars that sit parked in the borough without license plates or valid registration and inspection stickers. Hagenbuch said she is "tagging" vehicles on the street and those in plain view on private property.

If plates and stickers are not placed on cars, the owners can be cited and fined.